Ghosts and Delights
by richonnesmints
Summary: Ever since May told Harry that an old lady could've died in their house, he has convinced himself that there is a ghost in his room. He has been keeping Athena up at night, and she needs a break... so Bobby offers to help out with Harry's ghost problem.


Athena let out a sigh as she entered the living room.

"Is everything okay?" Bobby asked.

"Ever since May said that a woman could've died in this house, Harry has convinced himself that there's a ghost in his room."

"What?" Bobby asked shocked.

"I've had to make sure his room is clear every night for the past week before he goes to sleep. I wish May wouldn't have said that to him."

Athena walked over to the couch where Bobby was sitting and he grabbed her hand. He pulled her down on his lap, and as soon as she landed, he placed a kiss on her cheek.

"It's just a phase. It won't last long," Bobby assured her.

Athena wrapped her arms around his neck. "I hope not. He hasn't been getting much sleep and neither have I. He's been waking me up at least three times a night."

Bobby placed his hand on her cheek and ran his thumb under eye. "You do look tired. If he wakes up tonight, I'll go and make sure he's okay."

"You don't have to do that," she told him.

Bobby smiled. "I know, but I want to give you a break. I think you need one."

She moved closer and kissed him.

"I missed you so much today," Bobby admitted.

He usually got to see Athena at least a few times out of the day because of the calls they went to, but he didn't get to see her at all. It was like they were both at the wrong place at the wrong time all day.

Bobby trailed kisses along her jaw bone and down her cheek.

"I missed…" Athena trailed off as Bobby's teeth grazed the area below her right ear. She let out a soft moan.

"...you too," she said after a moment.

"Lay down," Bobby whispered in her ear.

Athena quickly moved off his lap and laid down on the couch while Bobby stood up. She bit her bottom lip as she looked up at him.

Bobby just wanted to stand there and appreciate her for a second. There weren't enough words in a dictionary to truly describe how beautiful she was. He could've honestly cried at the sight of her.

He kneeled right beside the couch and and slowly pulled up her shirt. Athena's breath caught in her throat when Bobby's fingers touched her stomach.

His eyes met hers and he knew that she wanted him to touch her so badly. The look in her eyes gave it all away.

Bobby lowered his head and his lips touched her stomach. Athena let out a moan that was definitely a little too loud when his tongue touched her as he continued to leave a trail of kisses up and down her skin.

Athena grabbed Bobby's shirt with one hand and his arm with the other to get him to move on top of her.

"Come here," she whispered.

Bobby positioned himself on top of her. He was grateful that the couch was large enough so they could be in their current situation.

Athena wrapped her arms around Bobby when they started to kiss. It wasn't like the kiss they had shared earlier. This one had deepened just as quick as it had started. It was heavy, hot, and they kissed like they needed each other more than anything else in the world.

Bobby groaned against her lips when Athena rolled her hips against his. He grabbed her left leg and wrapped it around him and they both moaned when his center touched hers.

He grinded his hips against hers and Bobby closed his eyes. He was beginning to feel very uncomfortable. His cock was aching to get out of those jeans.

Bobby was just about to ask her if she wanted to go to her bedroom, but he heard something. He stopped kissing Athena and she was very confused.

He heard it again and he was confident that he knew what it was: footsteps. Bobby began to panic as he got up and he tripped over his own feet. He landed on the floor and Athena quickly stood up.

"What are you doing?" She asked, just a little too loud.

Bobby pointed towards the kitchen. "There's someone walking. Listen."

Athena began to listen closely.

Bobby looked down at his crotch and his erection was humongous. He put his knees up to his chest to hide it. There wasn't anything he could do about his crimson colored cheeks because of what he and Athena had been doing and how they almost got caught. He felt like a teenager.

About that time, Harry showed up and he looked scared. Athena turned to Bobby and she mouthed the words "I'm sorry" and then she looked relieved. It was a good thing Bobby had heard Harry because he was so close to walking in on something that he could never unsee.

Harry's eyes glanced from his mom to Bobby and his eyebrows raised.

"There was a spider," Bobby lied as he wrapped his arms around his knees.

Harry still looked confused. "Why are you sitting on the floor?"

Bobby tried to quickly come up with a story. He cleared his throat before he began to speak. "Well, your mom and I were sitting here and she saw a spider. She got scared and she jumped… and then that scared me and as I got up to try to get it, I fell down… and now I'm just sitting here trying to make sure the spider doesn't get anywhere near her."

It wasn't the best lie he had ever come up with, but it was a good enough explanation for Harry. He just nodded after hearing the story.

Bobby looked over at Athena and she stared at him in disbelief for a few seconds, but then she began to smile.

"That's right, honey… just a spider," Athena said as she looked over at her son.

"Oh," Harry said.

"What are you doing up?" she asked as she walked over to him.

Fear began to spread across his features once again. "The old lady was knocking on my window!"

She shook her head. "Harry… how many times do we have to go through this? There's nothing in your room."

"But mom, I just heard it. I swear!"

"I'm really good at making monsters and ghosts go away. Would you like me to go and check it out?" Bobby chimed in.

Harry nodded.

Bobby stood up and kissed Athena's cheek. "I'll be right back."

"Don't be so sure about that. That boy will have you check every inch of his room," she whispered in Bobby's ear.

He smiled. "When I get back, we can continue where we left off… but in your room."

"I'm just going to wait right here because if I go and sit on that bed, I'll fall asleep."

Before Bobby could say anything, Harry began to speak.

"Bobby! Come on! The old lady could be in my room right now!" He shouted impatiently.

"I'm sure that she isn't. As long as your window is locked, there is no way she can get in your room," Bobby said as they walked up the few steps that led to the hallway and bedrooms.

"Bobby, don't you know anything about ghosts? They walk through walls, so they can get through a locked window."

Bobby had to smash his lips together to stop himself from smiling.

"You're right," Bobby said after a few seconds.

Bobby couldn't help but notice the way Harry was tiptoeing down the hall.

"Are you trying to be quiet so you don't wake up May?" He questioned.

Harry stopped and faced him. "No. May snores as loud as an elephant. She sleeps through everything. I'm walking like this so the old lady won't know we're coming."

Bobby nodded and began to slowly walk like Harry was. They finally made it to his bedroom. Bobby waited on Harry to go in first, but he didn't.

"Are you sure you've done this before?" Harry asked as he looked up at him.

Bobby nodded. "I really have. I promise. It's just been a while," he answered truthfully.

Memories of his own children flooded into his head. There were many nights Bobby didn't get much sleep because he had refused to lay down until the "monsters" and "ghosts" had finally left his kids' bedroom.

Harry sighed. "Okay. You go in first."

Bobby walked in and looked around. It was all clear, so he turned around to look at Harry. He figured that Harry wasn't happy with that, so he walked over to the closet and opened the door.

"There's nothing in here," Bobby announced.

He walked over to Harry's bed and kneeled. He looked under there and no ghosts inhabited there, but a lot of Harry's clothes did.

Bobby stood up and looked over at Harry, who was still standing in the doorway.

"The only thing under there is a pile of clothes… does your mom know about that?"

Harry shook his head.

"You should probably clean up before she finds out… I don't want you to get in trouble," Bobby said, giving him a smile.

Harry grinned. "I will."

Bobby checked behind the door and even though, every corner was visible, he checked them too. There wasn't anyone or anything in his room.

"So… I think it's safe for you to come in here now," Bobby said.

"But what about how I heard her knocking on my window?" Harry asked.

Bobby sighed. He didn't know what to say. He didn't want to say the wrong thing and make everything worse.

"I really don't know what that was," he admitted.

Harry was still hesitant about coming in. Bobby walked over and placed his hand on Harry's shoulder.

"I'll stay in here with you for a while if that'll make you feel better," Bobby suggested.

Harry nodded and finally walked in. He slowly made his way over to the bed and laid down. Bobby made sure he was covered up before he sat down on the floor beside his bed.

About that time, they heard something hit the window. Harry immediately sat up and yelped.

"I told you!" He shouted.

Bobby quickly got up and rushed over to the window. He chuckled when he realized the thing hitting the window was a tree branch.

"It's really windy outside. It's only a piece of a branch hitting your window," he explained.

Bobby looked over at Harry and he was obviously having trouble catching his breath. He walked over and sat on the bed. Harry instantly jumped into his arms.

"Hey, hey, hey, it's okay," Bobby assured him.

He patted Harry's back. "I'm here. I'm not going to let anything hurt you," he promised.

They stayed like that until Harry's breathing was normal again. Bobby gave him half a smile when he finally pulled away.

He was going to tell Harry the one thing that he didn't want to hear… the same thing his mom had been trying to get him to realize all week.

"There's no ghosts," Bobby told him.

"But…" Harry started but trailed off.

"You want to know what I think?"

Harry slowly nodded.

"I think you just have a very good imagination," Bobby said.

Harry sighed and looked down at the bed. "That's what mom has been telling me all week, but I know there's a ghost in here. I know."

Bobby thought of a different approach. "So, how long do you think this ghost has been in here?"

"Since last week."

"Since Halloween, right?" Bobby asked.

Harry nodded.

"Don't you think that maybe May scared you and after that, you scared yourself and put images of this ghost lady into your head?"

Harry shrugged. "Mom has been asking me that same question all week too… but what if when May said that, it cursed me and now there actually is a ghost here?"

Yep. Harry definitely had a very active imagination.

"Harry, I really don't think that's possible… like I said, I think you have a good imagination and after May told you about an old lady possibly dying here, you just ended up scaring yourself over it… and I know your mom agrees."

"But how do I stop having a good imagination?"

Bobby shook his head. "I don't want you to stop having an imagination. That's what makes you unique… but there are ways to help you when you're scared."

"I'm not scared," Harry told him.

Bobby smiled. "It's okay to admit that you're scared. There's nothing wrong with that."

Harry sighed. "Okay. Maybe I am a little scared," he muttered.

"Do you want to know what I do when I get scared?"

"You get scared?" Harry asked.

"Yeah. I do. I'm sure everyone does every once in a while," Bobby said.

"I guess so."

"I know so," Bobby said.

"So, what do you do when you get scared?"

"I think about things or people that make me happy."

"Like what?" Harry asked.

Bobby sat there and thought for a second. He had to admit, feeling happiness was still so strange and new to him. There weren't many things that made him happy before he met the people he could call family at work.

And of course, he would never ever forget all the ways Athena made him happy.

Before Bobby met Athena, his world had been upside down. Nothing made sense. He just coasted through life waiting for something, anything to happen. It was like time stood still and everything moved in slow motion.

And when Athena had come into his life, he began to smile a lot and have a little more hope. He wasn't just coasting through life, he actually wanted to live. Bobby wanted to be and do better because Athena believed in him so much. And he had to try. For her.

Bobby used to always look up at the sun and wondered when the day would come when he wouldn't see it anymore. He kind of used it as a lifeline, like as long as he sun kept doing its job every day, then he would get up and do his too. He would keep going as long as the sun would.

It was a strange thing, really, but Bobby desperately grabbed onto anything to keep going.

But when Athena had become an important part of his life, he didn't really pay attention to the sun anymore. He didn't want to. He didn't need to.

Of course, he needed the sun to literally live, but metaphorically, he didn't depend on it anymore.

Athena was his own personal sun.

She was his everything.

"Uhh… Bobby, are you okay?" Harry asked.

Bobby had gotten lost in his thoughts again. "I'm great. I was just thinking."

"But whenever I'm scared, I think about your mom... and how brave she would be if she was in the same situation… i think about my friends, and I even think about how I really like cooking,' Bobby said after a moment.

Harry's brows raised. He was obviously confused about the cooking thing.

"Sometimes I think about cooking because I like making new things, so I distract myself by thinking of recipes… I just… I think about that stuff to get me by… to get me through the day."

Harry nodded in understanding. He didn't say anything for about a minute or so, and Bobby was sure that he was thinking.

"So…" Harry said to break the silence. "The next time I think there's a ghost in here, I can think about spaghetti? That makes me really happy. That's okay, right?"

Bobby laughed. "Yeah, that's fine… whatever helps you to not be scared anymore."

Harry smiled. "You were right when you said you were good at keeping the monsters and ghosts away. You're good… like, really really good."

"My kids thought so too," Bobby said.

He started to bite the inside of his cheek after he said it. He hadn't really meant to say it, but there was nothing he could do now. It was already out there.

"You're a dad?" Harry whispered.

Bobby swallowed the lump that was forming in his throat. "I was."

He looked over at Harry and he was puzzled by the fact that Bobby had used past tense.

Bobby cleared his throat before he spoke. "They're not here anymore."

He was so sure that he knew the next question Harry was going to ask: what happened? Bobby tried to prepare himself.

But Harry didn't ask that at all.

"I'm really sorry," Harry said.

Bobby did his best to try to give him a smile.

"Can you tell me stories about them someday? Like… their names, and all of their favorite things?" Harry asked.

He definitely didn't expect that question. Bobby hardly ever spoke about his children; it was just too hard and brought back painful memories. But it warmed his heart that Harry wanted to know about them.

And Bobby promised himself that he would open up his heart and soul to Harry, May, and even Athena. Of course, she mostly knew everything there was about him, but he would keep opening up to her too.

After all, they were his family now too, and they didn't want to know about his past because they wanted to hurt him. They only wanted to know because they cared.

Bobby nodded. "Someday. I promise."

Harry smiled but it was cut short. He yawned.

"I think you should try to get some sleep," Bobby suggested as he stood up.

Harry laid down and situated himself so he was laying on his back.

"Do you think you'll be okay in here?" Bobby asked.

"I think so," he answered.

"Bobby?"

"Yeah, Harry?"

"Thank you for helping me."

Bobby placed his hand on Harry's head and ruffled his hair. "You're welcome… do you want me to stay in here until you go to sleep?"

Harry grinned so big and nodded.

Bobby sat on the floor and rested his head on the side of the mattress.

"Goodnight, Bobby," Harry said.

"Goodnight, Harry."

Bobby ended up sitting there for a little over fifteen minutes. He grinned a little as he stood up and watched Harry move on his side. Bobby made sure he left the door cracked so a little bit of light could go into his room.

He walked as quietly through the house as he could. When he entered the living room, he grinned. Athena was curled up on the couch asleep.

She had fallen asleep anyway.

And Bobby definitely wasn't going to let her sleep there all night.

He made his way over to Athena and touched her cheek. She moved around a bit and mumbled before she opened her eyes.

"Hey," Bobby whispered.

"Hey. I'm sorry I fell asleep," she mumbled groggily.

"Don't be. You need to rest."

"Mmm," she replied.

Athena started to sit up, but Bobby wrapped his right arm around her legs while his left arm supported the top half of her body. He picked her up in one swift move.

"What are you doing?" She asked as she looked up at him.

"I'm carrying you to bed."

"My legs work just fine," Athena pointed out.

"So do my arms," Bobby said.

Athena let out a little laugh as Bobby began to carry her to her room.

"How did it go with Harry?"

"It went well," Bobby answered.

"What did you… say to him?" Athena said in between yawns.

Bobby smiled. "We can talk all about it tomorrow, but I think the ghost situation might be resolved."

"I'm glad to hear that… but I think I'd like to talk about something now," she said seriously.

Bobby stopped walking and looked down at her. "What is it?"

"Your little spider lie… why did I have to be the scared one?" Athena asked as a smile began to form on her lips.

Bobby laughed. "I don't know.. I just had to make that up on the spot."

"Mhmm."

"But… if there's actually a spider someday, I would definitely be the scared one. You would have to save me," Bobby admitted.

There wasn't a lot that creeped out Bobby, but spiders? Nope. Bobby couldn't handle those.

Athena laughed. "I'll remember that."

Bobby eased them both into her room and laid her gently on the bed. He kissed her forehead before he pulled away.

"Do you want me to leave or…" He trailed off.

"Now, why would I want you to do that?" Athena questioned.

Bobby shrugged. "I just thought that maybe you could get more rest if I leave. I guess it was a stupid suggestion."

Athena grabbed his hand. "It is… because I can sleep just fine with you right next to me, maybe even better… so stay."

He went over and shut the door before he climbed into bed beside Athena and wrapped his arm around her. She moved her body as close as she could get to his.

"I hope you don't mind me taking a rain check on the sex," she said.

"I don't mind," he told her.

Bobby kissed the back of her neck. "Besides, we can continue where we left off tomorrow morning before we have to go to work."

"Sounds good to me," Athena whispered.

She grabbed Bobby's hand and interlocked his fingers with her own.

"I really don't know what I'd do or be without you," Bobby admitted.

"You would still be that smart, sexy, firefighter who everyone loves," she said.

Bobby couldn't stop himself from chuckling.

"Athena, I'm serious," he said after a moment. "I just hope you know how important you are to me."

Athena turned her head a little so she could look at Bobby. "I do know… but you do you know how important you are to me? Because honey, I don't know who I'd be without you either."

"You would still be that sexy… gorgeous… beautiful cop who most criminals don't love," Bobby said in between kissing her neck.

"Bobby… stop that," Athena tried to say seriously, but he could hear a hint of amusement in her voice.

"I'm sorry. You did it to me, so I had to," Bobby explained.

"Apology accepted… but if you keep talking to me like that, my body isn't going to make it until morning."

Bobby laughed. "Okay, then, I'll stop talking, but… I thought you were tired?"

"I was. I am... but you... talking like that is waking all of me up."

"I'm sorry," Bobby apologized.

Athena shook her head. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, beautiful."

Athena let out a loud sigh and then let out a laugh.

"Oh, right. I forgot. I'm not supposed to say sweet things to you or it'll make you horny."

Athena coughed a little and turned her body so she could look at him.

"What am I going to do with you?" She whispered.

"You can do whatever you want," Bobby answered honestly.

Athena stared into his eyes for a moment and Bobby winked at her.

"That's it," she said as she began to move.

Athena pushed Bobby on his back and climbed on top of him.

"So, we're not going to sleep yet?" Bobby asked with the most stupid grin on his face.

"What do you think?" Athena said as she looked down at him.

"I think that I have the most beautiful woman on top of me… but other than that, I'm not really thinking about anything else," he told her.

As soon as he told her that, Athena moved her hips against Bobby's and he groaned. His mouth fell open as he looked at her.

"You can't say things like that and expect me not to react to them," Athena said.

Bobby shrugged. "What? I'm only trying to be sweet."

Athena smiled and shook her head. "You're acting wild tonight."

The only thing Bobby could do was laugh as Athena lowered her head to kiss him.

He most definitely was acting wild, but he couldn't help it.

It was just the way Athena Grant made him feel.


End file.
